Steam for Linux

I have noticed long loading times in Steam client startup and Team Fortress 2. Starting Steam can take up to two minutes and TF2 up to three before its own menus are shown. These are despite my laptop's relatively high specs - I'm running an Ivy Bridge i7, Nvidia 620M, 4GB DDR3@1600MHz, and most importantly, my laptop doesn't have a HDD at all, but a high-speed 256GB Samsung 830GB SSD.

I don't think this is related to internet connection - I've tested this on 100mbit connection as well as a 3G modem. And, again, IMHO it's not only TF2 that takes ages to load but also the Steam client (and to make sure, I'm not talking about downloading :P )

having the same issue with my system. And I do have a quite fast setup too. 2 Dedicated Gaming machines at home with the following specs:i5 2.6GHz QC CPU, 8GB Ram, NVidia GX660Ti 2GB, X-Fi Creative, 2x1TB Samsung drives.I have WIndows 7 installed on one Drive (No Antivirus - as these are Dedicated Gaming computers), and KUbuntu 12.10 on the other drive - and I have the same Drives in there. Under Windows - loading is at about 30secs, Linux it takes at least 2 Minutes before Serious Sam shows up. Same for Team Fortress 2.

FYI - Internet connection is 12Mbps Download, 1MBps upload. Fast enough to also host a server at home (Left4Dead2 - which I do from time to time, running under UBuntu 12.04 32Bit)